Panacea Biotec shares have surged over 56% in the last six trading sessions, with the stock reaching a 52-week high of ₹631.9 on Tuesday. This dramatic turnaround represents a significant recovery for a stock that had fallen almost 70% from its 2021 levels before making a rapid comeback to hit all-time highs. According to CNBC TV18, the stock is trading at a 52-week high and majority of its 67% advance in 2026 so far has come in the last six trading sessions, with the stock surging more than 15% in intraday trade on Tuesday after the latest project announcement.
The company officially announced the launch of the DENSTAR project on June 8, 2026, which is funded under the Global Health European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership 3 Joint Undertaking (GH EDCTP3 JU) and is supported by the European Union. As reported by CNBC TV18, the four-year initiative will run for 48 months starting June 1, 2026, and has received funding of over €11 million from the GH EDCTP3 programme. The project is designed to fast-track the regulatory approval and deployment of DengiAll in sub-Saharan Africa, with the mission to secure licensure of DengiAll in sub-Saharan Africa and facilitate broader global access to the vaccine.
The DENSTAR project brings together a consortium of 10 partners from nine countries across Europe, Africa, the United States, India and South Korea. According to CNBC TV18, the consortium is coordinated by Italy-based Sclavo Vaccines Association and includes Johns Hopkins University, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the International Vaccine Institute, and research organisations in Ghana, Gabon, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Panacea Biotec serves as a key partner in the consortium as the developer of DengiAll, a tetravalent live-attenuated dengue vaccine candidate targeting all four dengue virus serotypes currently in late-stage development in India.
Under the DENSTAR project, the consortium plans to conduct Phase I/III studies in healthy African adults and children to evaluate the vaccine's safety and effectiveness in the region. As reported by CNBC TV18, the programme will also assess efficacy against Dengue Virus Serotype 4 (DENV-4) using Controlled Human Infection Models (CHIMs), an area where no dengue vaccine has yet demonstrated protection. Ellis Owusu-Dabo, Scientific Project Lead of DENSTAR, noted that dengue infections can range from mild to potentially fatal in the most severe cases and is becoming more common in sub-Saharan Africa, driven primarily by climate change. Panacea Biotec Chief Scientific Officer Khalid Ali Syed said the project is expected to help reduce the global dengue burden while improving access to preventive healthcare.
DengiAll offers significant advantages over older dengue vaccines, as it requires no prior blood testing before administration - a feature that makes it far more scalable for mass rollout in low- and middle-income nations. According to CNBC TV18, the vaccine is designed as a single-dose shot, is cost-efficient to manufacture and does not require prior serological testing before administration, potentially making it easier to deploy at scale. Panacea Biotec is separately conducting a Phase III trial of DengiAll in India in collaboration with ICMR, spanning 19 sites across 18 states.
